A Fruitless Tree

A Fruitless Tree

Matthew 21:18-22

This particular story troubles me. In fact, it is one I’d rather not discuss because, quite frankly, it bothers me. Just reading it aloud leaves me wondering. And on the surface, it doesn’t seem to make sense. For that reason, a lot of people would just skip over it and go on to something else. But, as you know by now, I’m not “a lot of people.” So I’m not going to skip over it. 

Christians are accused of that, actually – of picking and choosing what parts of the Bible they want to believe. There are reasons for some of that, but the fact that we don’t understand or don’t like something is not a good reason to pass by and ignore some part of the Bible. I would suggest that, if we don’t understand something or don’t like something the Bible says, that is all the more reason why we ought to dive in and study it. If we are afraid of something in the Bible, we need to study it and face the reality of what it says. If we don’t understand something, we ought to try to understand. We ought to dig it out. If we don’t like something, we need to face the reason why we don’t like it, and face the truth of what the Bible says. 

Let me point out quickly that the Bible is made up of peaks and valleys. It is not a level plain. What I mean by that is that different parts of the Bible have different value to us. Some parts are not really important. Some parts don’t actually apply to us, particularly as gentile believers. Some parts are important for the way we live, and some parts are vital to us. We must understand and obey those parts. But not everything in the Bible is equally important. We ought not ignore parts we don’t understand, but we can leave aside parts that don’t apply to us. 

A quick example is the law regarding blended fabric - and just saying that is a misinterpretation of the law. The common Israelites were forbidden to wear clothing made of blended wool and linen (Dt 22:11). Why? Not, as many suppose, because they wash differently or because they shrink differently or some other functional reason. The reason the commoner was forbidden was because that blend was reserved for particular garments for the high priest. Exodus 28:6 - Make the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen, and 28:15 - Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions—the work of skilled hands. Make it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. The reason the commoner could not wear that particular blended fabric was simply because it was holy and reserved for the high priest. That law, then, had a specific rationale and does not apply to fabrics of cotton/polyester or other such blends. And it does not apply to us. It is one we can ignore.   

But we can’t ignore the event of our text this morning, no matter how much it bothers us. And I will add that one reason it bothers us is because it seems out of character for Jesus.  

Let’s start at the beginning. Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Hebrews 2:17 tells us that Jesus was fully human in every way. Philippians 2:6-7 tells us that even though Jesus being in very nature God, ... made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant. The word “nature” there is the Greek μορφή/μορφήν (morphē/morphēn) meaning form, body, or essential nature. Jesus, who is the eternal Word, divine in his essential nature, took on the essential nature of a human. We have a tendency to do one of two things with Jesus: we either make him mostly divine, our Lord, and minimize his humanity; or we make him mostly human, and minimize his deity. The Early Church wrestled with this, against several heresies that leaned one way or the other, and settle on a formulation that declared that Jesus was both fully human and fully God. And there is Scriptural testimony to both his deity and his humanity. I’ve already spoken to you extensively about his deity, and his claims to deity. Now we need to also see the testimony to his humanity: Jesus was hungry. God has no need of food, but man does. Jesus was hungry.   

Here’s the thing about this that brings us comfort: God understands hunger pangs. He understands your desires and the pain of having that desire go unsatisfied. God experienced hunger, too. He understands your needs. He knows what you are going through.

Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. One reason this feels out of character for Jesus is that Mark’s rendition of this account tells us that it was not the season for figs (Mk 11:13). Jesus would have known that. And if it were not the right season for figs, then it doesn’t make sense to us that Jesus would curse an out of season tree for not having fruit. But, what Mark doesn’t tell us is whether it was too early for figs or if it was past harvest. Either way, Mark’s comment doesn’t really change the situation.   

I have a young fig tree, too young to bear fruit yet. But mature fig trees, I’m told, show signs of early fruit shortly after the leaves appear. That means that if there were leaves, there should have been at least early fruit, unripe and not edible, but fruit nonetheless. In addition, the law instructed farmers to leave hanging fruit on their trees after harvest. There was to be fruit available for the widow, orphan, and traveler, who would glean leftovers after the harvest. So, if it were past harvest, there should have been ripe fruit still on the tree. 

Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. If there is no early fruit, the tree, in all likelihood, will not bear at all that year. Fruit is an indication of life and value. A tree that does not produce – Jesus tells other parables about this – is dug up and burned. It is of no use to the farmer because it costs money to maintain a tree and the fruitless tree is unprofitable. Farmers have no interest in maintaining fruitless trees. They just take up space, space that might be filled with a fruitful tree.   

On the other side of the coin, if the farmer did not leave fruit for gleaning, fruit for the widow, orphan and traveler, he was violating the law in favor of his own profit. He was selfish and uncaring. He was not doing his part to care for his poorer neighbors. When we recall the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy, those who did not honor the Lord and the law stood to lose everything. He paid his annual tithe to be used to support those who were unable to work, but he was obligated to leave part of his crop so that those who were able-bodied could harvest the gleanings. 

I was having a social media conversation recently in which the tithe for the poor was brought up. But it was not meant to support the lazy. It was not meant for those who could work but didn’t want to. No, the tithe for the poor was meant for the elderly and infirm who had no other resources. You see, the Torah commands that people care for their own. Sons were tasked with caring for their elderly parents. But if there was no son, if there was no means of support, then they could receive from the tithe. But if they were young, able-bodied, and capable of working, they were to follow the harvesters and glean the leftovers. Paul instructs Timothy that only widows over the age of 60 were to be put on the list to receive aid (1 Tim 5:9). Younger widows were not put on the list (v.11) but to remarry, have children, and make a home (v. 14). And if a woman had the care of a widow, she was to continue so that person would not be a burden to the church (v. 16). That way, money for compassion could go to those who really needed the help. The Torah and the Early Church had rules for who could receive welfare from the government and who could receive aid from the church. 

Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly!” The tree withered because it refused to grow and produce. The immediate cause was Jesus’ command. The heading over these verses tells us “Jesus curses a fig tree.” Was it a curse? Or was it merely a statement of reality?   

Whatever it was, it became a parable. We discover through the prophets, particularly Isaiah, Ezekiel and Hosea, that there were two kinds of prophecy – prophetic words and prophetic actions. Sometimes, they acted out the prophecies. Just so, Jesus showed two kinds of parables: the stories he told, and some of the things he did. It appears that “cursing” the fig tree was an acted-out parable. Jesus used it to teach the disciples about faith. 

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” 

Now, before I go on, there is, I think, massive misunderstanding of what Jesus said here. I know of people who think this is a license - permission to ask for mansions and fancy cars, the basis for a prosperity gospel. That is, if Jesus told us that we will get whatever we ask for, we’ll go all in and ask for a Lamborgini, a lottery jackpot, and perhaps a private jet or a yacht. There are those who use this to preach that God wants you rich – healthy, wealthy, and wise. After all, didn’t Jesus use the word “whatever”? The Greek uses a phrase that translates “all things whatever.” The NIV added “do not doubt,” but this phrase is not in the Greek text. The prosperity preachers, however, focus less on faith than on acquisition. If you have faith, you can get. All you have to do is ask, and your rich daddy in the sky will just fork it over. It’s rank materialism. And they’ve got it all wrong. 

Here’s why: context. What did Jesus tell us to seek first? What is our first prayer? What are we to hunger for and thirst for? The context for Jesus’ statement here is not just the fig tree; it is everything else he has said. Let’s go back, not just to ask and you shall receive, but to what you are to ask for, what you are to seek.   

Jesus’ inaugural sermon is our pattern. First, “Blessed are those ...” Remember, the King favors those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Mt 5:6). Your hunger is for holiness. Your thirst is for the water of life. Second: “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:10). Your prayer is that God’s will be done on earth. Third, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness ...” (Mt 6:33). It’s not about fast cars, private jets, or yachts. It’s not about winning lotteries. It’s not about stuff. It’s about the King and his kingdom. 

But didn’t Jesus tell us to ask for whatever we want – “all things whatsoever”? Yes, but he also told us what we are to want, what our deepest desire should be. And our deepest desire is for his kingdom and for his righteousness in us. Our fondest wish is that his will should be done on earth. That is, his will for our lives; his will for our children; his will for our church; his will for your home; his will for your nation. You see, what Jesus was trying to teach us is that it’s not about us and what we want, but about God’s kingdom, what God wants both of our world and of us; of us personally and of us as the Body of Christ. 

But doesn’t Jesus want us to be wealthy? Yes, he does, but he defined what wealth he was talking about: “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven ... for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:20). Earthly treasure decays, rusts, malfunctions, falls apart, breaks down, gets stolen. No one can touch your heavenly treasure. It’s secure. You understand, don’t you, that if you owned a yacht, you’d have to have security to protect it from thieves? And if you owned a fast car, you’d have to insure it against theft. The wealthier you are in material goods, the more you have to worry about theft and security. But treasure in heaven is in God’s hands. 

What Jesus really wants is your heart. He wants you to be focused on things that really matter. He doesn’t want you distracted by anxiety over how to protect your stuff from the rain, from the wind, from thieves, from decay. He wants your heart fixed on heaven and your eyes fixed on hims. So when you ask of God, you are asking for the right things. You see, it’s not really about wilting fig trees and moving mountains at all. It’s about your heart.   

Where is your heart this morning? Are you anxious about things that fall apart? That may even be your health, by the way. What is important to you? I almost asked, what is most important to you, but then we start making lists, don’t we. Just this: what is important to you? What are the first things in your life? Jesus said the first thing for us should be his kingdom and his righteousness. It is for you? What are you hungry for? Jesus said it should be for holiness. Is it for you? Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Do you pray for God will to be done in your life, in your family, in your nation? That’s what Jesus wants. What do you want? Where is your heart?